January 17, 2005—Computer giant Sun Microsystems announced a slew of RFID developments on Monday at the National Retail Federation Convention in New York. First, the Sun Java System RFID Tag and Ship Solution was released, which targets suppliers under tight mandate deadlines, claiming to get them up and running with a "tag and ship" system in a week's time. It includes Sun hardware, the company's Java middleware, an RFID and barcode reader, and an RFID printer from Irvine, California-based Printronix. Also announced was the Sun RFID Reference Architecture, "an established methodology that identifies, designs, builds, tests and optimizes Sun technology and premier third-party business applications for safer, more efficient [RFID] deployments."

The final development was Sun's announcement of forthcoming "Industry Solution Architectures," which are RFID solutions (naturally consisting mostly of Sun software and hardware) specially tailored to meet the needs of vertical industries. Government, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and retail were specifically named in the release, as was the fact that the ISA for Retail is already being jointly developed by Sun and enterprise integration specialist SeeBeyond of Monrovia, California.

Sun's approach to RFID is a particularly interesting one to observe. The company has been persistent with its decades-old mantra of "the network is the computer," a vision that fits nicely with the RFID-enabled Internet of Things. The company clearly intends to be a major player in the realization thereof, offering middleware, hardware and software, services, an entry-level package for mandated suppliers, customized solutions for industry verticals, and test centers. Few other companies can claim a portfolio of RFID offerings as comprehensive as that.